When I was 22, I attended an evening event on my own in order to network with my contacts. My editor suggested it was a good party to show my face at to familiarise myself with my patch and hopefully get some good story leads. Being a keen reporter, on my first job in the big smoke, I headed over with high hopes. During this boozy gathering, one man I regularly spoke to about my beat, came up behind me, pushed me up against the bar and pressed himself (all of himself) against me.

Yes, he was drunk. Yes, I was more embarrassed than him when it happened. And yes, another lovely man stepped in and dealt with him, as I ran off into the dark of the night to grab the first cab that came my way.

Now I, like most women, fresh out of university, was no stranger to men’s wandering hands…on the dancefloor. And while such groping is sadly just an irritating and normal part of the clubbing ritual in the UK, I had no qualms about regularly shouting and showing up such men while out on the tiles with all my pals. Just ask ‘em. I was pretty formidable and still am on that front.

But in a work scenario? I was totally out of my depth. I had spoken to this bloke many-a-time in my short stint on the job and planned to speak to him much more moving forward. He was a great source but as it turns out, a lousy drinking mate.

The next day, I told my kind male editor what had happened, who duly went puce and told me he would “deal with it”. Quickly after that awkward exchange, I received an embarrassed sounding voicemail from said groper (married with children – natch), apologising for his drunken and playful banter “which had gone a little too far”.

I never spoke to that bloke again nor did I really dwell on it – because well, what can you do, so I thought. Plus I just felt so awful about the whole thing, I wanted, like most people in similar scenarios, to forget it.

The 'office perv'

Equally, most of my female friends work in companies where something similar has happened to them or a female friend of theirs. They tell me stories about the “office perv”. But the point is, in 2014, there should be no such thing as the “office perv”.

Worryingly in the wake of the Lord Rennard case, there have been some rather glib and blasé remarks about sexual harassment in general. Before news broke on Monday that Lord Rennard had been suspended, Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat MEP, offered to bankroll a Rennard legal bid. He told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: “Why should Rennard apologise? Any admission would be seen as an admission of guilt. This isn’t Jimmy Savile – it is touching someone’s leg six years ago, at a meeting, through clothing.

“This is the equivalent of an Italian man, a few years ago pinching a woman’s bottom.”

Well I’m sorry, but when exactly did Savile’s heinous crimes become the standard against which all alleged sexual harassment is compared? When did that become the barometer? I must have missed that memo. And guess what, pinching a woman’s bottom in the workplace isn’t ok, just as it wasn’t “a few years ago”. You must have missed that memo, Mr Davies.

Equally Michael White, the Guardian’s assistant editor, also sees it fit to make an inappropriate comparison between alleged sexual harassment in the workplace and Savile’s crimes, crassly reducing the allegations of the Liberal Democrat women against Lord Rennard to “a clammy hand on the knee”.

Lord Rennard

Nobody, least of all the female Lib Dems who accused the peer of lewd behaviour, is comparing what they claim to have suffered, to even be in the same league of Savile. But why does it need to be? And people like Mr Davies and others, who want to play down any such claims, would do well to be reminded of what sexual harassment actually means in legal terms.

“Sexual harassment can be verbal or it can mean any sort of touching which is unwanted. But most women never do anything about these sorts of scenarios as they start doubting themselves if the actions were less than rape or some kind of assault.”

More women and men, she says, need to start coming forward about sexual harassment and apply the legal test before doing so. In a nutshell answer these questions and talk over the answers with a trusted colleague or lawyer:

- Was the conduct unwanted?

- Did the conduct create an environment which was intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive?

- Would a reasonable person also find the conduct unacceptable?

If the answers are ‘yes’ to these questions – then you need to go speak to your company’s human resources team as quickly as possible. They should then instigate a grievance process and if you aren’t satisfied with the company’s response, you have three months from the date of the harassment to engage a lawyer and bring an employment tribunal.

Ms Daurka admits the process isn’t perfect and that such matters are incredibly difficult to prove. However, most harassers don’t ever act once. They will strike again and by building up a picture of these people, mostly men, and by getting a complaint on the record, even if you are the first to do so, it is worth it, to ensure ‘office pervs’ are stamped out.

She is appalled at anyone playing down allegations of sex abuse because they don’t compare to Jimmy Savile’s actions. Ironically, her firm is representing many of the entertainer’s victims.

“One action of sexual harassment is enough to be something to care about, regardless of its magnitude. If women don’t speak out – it will continue to be a norm in offices throughout the UK,” she says.

“Jimmy Savile was one of the most prolific abusers. To equate the Lord Rennard allegations is stupid on all levels.”

“While there wasn’t enough evidence to pass a criminal test, Alistair Webster, [the QC appointed to examine the case of Lord Rennard] did say the peer’s behaviour caused “distress” to a number of women and “violated the personal space and autonomy of the complainants”.

“If people see that lawmakers can’t even take action against someone this sort of thing has been said about, I worry even more women won’t speak up and stick their necks out. There should be a stigma about this sort of behaviour and senior men should be setting an example.”

While my situation didn’t happen in the office, I was still out at a work event and felt suitably vulnerable. My particular case would have been especially difficult to mount and even if something like this had happened to me at work, by a colleague, I still would feel scared about going down the HR route. However, now I know the legal tests and my rights, I would definitely take action. I just hope the Rennard affair doesn’t send all the wrong signals to women everywhere. It’s time to take a stand and for companies everywhere to purge the ‘office sleaze’.